Anthropic and Figma: Tensions Over a Potential Competing Product

On April 14, Mike Krieger, product director at Anthropic, announced his resignation from the board of directors of Figma. This decision was formalized in a communication to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. On the same day, information emerged regarding Anthropic's upcoming model, Opus 4.7, which could include design tools likely to directly compete with those of Figma.

Figma, valued at $10 billion, is recognized for its popular tool among user experience designers, facilitating the creation of interfaces for websites and applications. The company has historically collaborated with Anthropic to integrate AI models into its products, thereby offering advanced assistance features to its users.

Krieger, who co-founded Instagram and the news app Artifact, joined Anthropic as chief product officer in 2024. He had been on Figma's board for less than a year before his resignation.

This departure comes amid growing concerns among investors regarding the "SaaSpocalypse," a theory suggesting that large AI labs could dominate the software market. This worry has been heightened by a nearly 18% drop in the main iShares software ETF, IGV, this year.

Additionally, Anthropic recently turned down offers from investors looking to acquire stakes in the company at a valuation of $800 billion, more than double its valuation during its last funding round. Despite these tensions, Figma's stock price has risen by 5% since the announcement of Krieger's departure. However, the impact of the upcoming Opus release on the market remains to be seen.